Tag: The marine corps

Is the Marine Corps this incompetent? So, I am getting a medical separation which I couldn’t be happier about. Camp Pendleton has been nothing but pure hell. I cannot stand 95% of the people I work with. Don’t even get me started on the worthless garbage “superiors”.Within the past day, two ridiculous things have happened. Payday was supposed to be today, or technically yesterday for those of us with Pacific Marine Credit Union.Who of course, has the worst luck and didn’t get paid? Me. I go to speak to the finance people and they tell me, “Whoops, someone put the wrong code on your file so your paycheck will be late.”… “How late?”, I asked. They respond with a “Up to a week.” You see, my problem with this is that I have a family and like a majority of Marines, we live paycheck to paycheck. Rent was due today so I had to borrow money. How is this acceptable at all? Now I’m scraping the empty barrel. Next thing, I get my medical record.What do they do? They screwed it up. Apparently I have been in the Marine Corps since 2001, I was a teenager in 2010, none of which is true. Now I have to fix it before they release me.

As an NCO, my job is to enhance the effectiveness of the Marine Corps. However, I don’t see that happening when the following aren’t fixed:
1. Boot Camp (DIs and SDIs) needs to be able to weed people out more. I’m not talking about letting DIs abuse recruits. There are recruits who get through boot camp who has no business being a Marine. Some even want to drop out. Instead of discharging them and USMC decides to ‘punish’ them by recycling them, over and over, and over again even though it’s clear that they don’t want to be there. Guess what? You have to waste money and manpower going to a recruit or Marine that doesn’t want to be there and is gonna be liabilities later on. What are they? Well you see them mentioned here: buddy fuckers, they become bad leaders, incompetent Marines, mass punishments, etc. It doesn’t take much to see this compounds. Forcing them to go through by recycling isn’t doing anything. If you can’t handle 3 months of boot, what makes you think you can hack SOI, the operating forces or deployment? This is coming from my experiences and my conversation with a former Marine DI and recruiter. What kind of elite unit keeps undesirables who don’t even want to be in around? I do give some credit to some recruiters and Marines on RA who help poolees prepare for boot which contributed somewhat to lowering failure rates in boot camp.
2. Let Marines (active duty) choose their MOS- not just the field. I don’t get how the Marines generally wait until after boot camp to tell new Marines what their ‘exact’ MOS is and the reason for it is ‘the demands of the Marine Corps.’ This is an example of piss poor personnel management. While working Recruiters Assistance, I have seen several people turned away because they are not guaranteed to choose the exact MOS who had the potential to benefit the Marines.
3. Less advertisement. I swear I’m in an organization with attention whores. And you don’t even have to see the commercials (ie Katy Perry music video). If we are elite and cut down on the stupid BS by 25%, people will flock to join.

I’m curious to see what you all would do to fix this organization (other than disband it)?

Suicides happen in the Marine Corps. What does the Marine Corps do to help prevent it? Powerpoint by death. Frankly, I fucking hate these briefs. It is an epic struggle to stay awake through it. On one presentation, I drank 3 monsters. And afterwards, I felt shittier physically and mentally.

For those higher ups who think that this is the solution, how about asking yourself why Marines commit suicide and then work from there? There are some problems that can’t be solved like, “I want to kill myself because the Marine Corps sucks ass and I have 3 years left on my contract.” Sure the Marine Corps sucks ass but as a higher up, I’m sure you can find ways to lessen that shitty feeling.

Like instead of keeping your Marines working beyond normal working hours because you had your head up your ass, why not improve yourself so that they don’t have to suffer because of YOUR mistakes. Or stop treating your Marines like shit because your vagina hurts or you have a fucking power trip. Your Marines are there to work for you and will do what you tell them to as long as they trust and believe you. The higher ups are supposed to be helping their junior Marines and not themselves but it almost always seems to be the opposite of that.

In the Marine Corps, you can work as hard as you want but you won’t really go anywhere. You’ll just end up getting more work. In fact, you will be so depended on, your higher ups won’t even let you go anywhere.

Why would your higher ups send you away and lose an asset? Officers and SNCOs wanted to make themselves look good at the expense of doing what is right. So instead of rewarding the good Marines, they would punish them by keeping them in their section.

This happened to a friend of mine named Dan. He was so squared-away, that he would single-handedly bring up his entire section because he did a significant amount of work. They never sent him anywhere but instead, they treated him like shit because they were big time haters.

So, he became sick of their bullshit and eventually turned 180 degrees toward the path of shitbaggery. His higher ups turned him into the platoon janitor. Eventually, they sent him away to the Philippines where he met a Master Gunnery Sergeant. They played golf together and hanged out. Then this conversation took place.

Dan : Hey, can you give me good pros and cons?
MGuns : Sure!
Dan : Thanks, I usually get crappy pros and cons for the work that I do.
MGuns : Who do you work for?
Dan : *tells him*
MGuns : Oh. I hate that faggot.

Throughout the Marine Corps, I have had my suspicions but this single event proved to me, without a shadow of doubt, that in order to succeed in the Marine Corps, you need to know the right people. So it doesn’t matter what you do but more importantly, it’s about who you know.

Unfortunately, the reward and punishment system is fucked up most of the times. I remember we had this Temporary Assigned Duty (TAD) to Las Vegas and they wanted to send this belligerent shitbag, who couldn’t even pass a PFT, just so that they could get rid of this shitbag but the shitbag couldn’t go. If you are in a position of leadership and are wondering if a place is shitty or not, just ask your platoon, “Who wants to go?” If at least one Marine says yes, it’s probably all right. If over half the platoon raises their hands, you know DAMN well to send THOSE volunteers.

Why do you want to send shitbags who don’t want to do anything when there are WILLING Marines? I don’t understand why the selection process has to be random. It’s not like the whole damn process should be so complicated. Just tell everyone to stand in a formation or gather around and start asking a bunch of questions to weed out undesirable Marines.

I worked hard and ended up getting sent to 29 Palms for a month. Another Marine gets caught beating off in the General Population Tent, a trailer, the head, on post and then got caught sleeping on post and ends up being sent to work at the Single Marine Program Area for half a year. My Sergeant asked my platoon, “Who wants to work at the SMP?” and 95% of the people raised their hands. BUT SPANKY GOT IT!

Is this the right way to go about doing business? Good Marines should be treated like limited resources and not something expendable. If the Marine Corps was a business, it wouldn’t even last a year because everyone would quit.

On a side note, I’ve added a few more links in the “A Few Good Links” section. Also, www.ihatetheUSMC.com added me on their links section. Thanks!

One thing you don’t want to bring when you go out drinking is another Marine. God it’s terrible. A countless number of things can go wrong. It’s too many to list so I’ll turn them into comics in the future.

They had a bar in Okinawa, Japan named, “Globe and Anchor” but Marines called it the the Hook and Jab because so many stupid and drunk Marines fought each other there over something as stupid as the way another drunk Marine looks.

Alcoholism is part of the Marine Corps tradition. And we suffer greatly because of it. A lot of Marines drink and drive 120 mph into the nearest tree. And then the Marines that are still alive in that command all receive a 3 hour long safety stand-down on “how not to drink and then drive your car 120 mph into the nearest tree.” Whenever I receive these briefs, it is a struggle to stay awake. I could have slept for 10 hours yesterday but it’s like some sort of dark magic that these speakers cast on all of us.

The best way to stay awake is by not paying attention. I’ll blankly stare ahead, with my mouth gaping open, and think about how much I want to get the fuck out of the Marine Corps and what I’m going to do out of it.

But why do Marines drink? They drink to escape the shitty reality that they are in. It’s escapism.

I can pretty much imagine what everybody wants to do when they get out of the Marine Corps.

1. Get the fuck away from your current duty station.
2. Burn, sell or lock away your uniforms.
3. Grow out your hair/mustache/beard to your standards.
4. Get more tattoos to your standards.
5. Go to “previously restricted area/country” and do “previously restricted activity” for as long as you’d like or as long as your funds permit.

Those are the main things that I can imagine.

This cycle of Marine recruits coming in and angry Marines going out is continuous and it appears near ending but if the Marine Corps keeps spitting out angry former Marines, you sort of wonder if the higher ups even realize that this is a future problem.

The answer is, it is. If the higher ups took off their rose-colored glasses they would realize it. Eventually, with the Marine Corps being as shitty as it is, people will get out as fast as possible and spread bad word about the Marine Corps.

And this Angry Marine will spread bad word about the Marine Corps for the rest of his natural life.

Now imagine this with many, many angry Marines. The Marine Corps is taking its own dick and shoving it up its own ass by fucking over good Marines and making up stupid rules and regulations. Also, the higher ups that are currently in don’t care about us in general. They say they do but it’s just a bunch of lies and the people below them, the lower-downs, will believe them up until the point when something happens that changes their perspective of those higher ups. It’s usually by witnessing one or many wrong-doings.

Good morning, boys and girls! How the hell are we? You may be asking yourselves, “Who’s this douchebag and why does he sound so happy?” Well, I’ll tell you why. I recently separated from the Marine Corps with no ties with the organization (no IRR time left). This is going to be a bit long-winded so bear with me.

It was a bittersweet transition from being a man-baby who was coddled to a real adult. Before you motards start jumping on my back, I’ll ask you to think about it before you post. Marines aren’t allowed to take initiative or think for themselves. Ever hear “Good initiative, bad judgment” or “Who the hell told you to do that, Devil?!” Yeah, we’ve all been there. And that’s my point. Marines aren’t treated like adults, unless they’re SNCOs or officers. While in the Marine Corps everything is provided for you. You really didn’t have to worry about anything and money will be rolling in. Once you’re out you’ll have nothing but the things you work for. This is what I mean by bittersweet.

Well, I’ve been on this site a back and haven’t returned until now. Looks like there are a lot more
people since I last lurked through here. Which I think is great. Aside from the smoke pit, this is a wonderful medium for Marines to come and vent their anger and frustration. To the moderators/creators I say, keep up the great work. And to the Marines – come on here when you need to vent. Get it out of your system here and don’t lash out to those jerks around you (even though they may deserve it); don’t give them a reason to pick on you. Last time I was here, I replied to some troll that commented on the page. Looking through the anon boards, I don’t see too many trolls anymore. Although they are annoying, I do like it when they post. It’s fun to see Marines who’ve been mistreated or kept their anger bottled inside pounce on the troll. Because let’s face it, we couldn’t do that in real-life.

The main reason why I’m writing today is to try and impart some advice to Marines. The posts on
this board are loaded with sound advice so heed them. My advice is to milk the Marine Corps for all it’s worth. They’re going to get what they want from you so why not take what you can get? There are loads of things that can accomplish this without breaking the law. Tuition assistance is a MAJOR one. If you’re in right now, you’d be an idiot and not to take advantage of it. It’s free money. I can’t stress that enough. I started taking classes for three reasons: 1. Education 2. Milking the Marine Corps 3. Getting out of field day. I don’t mind cleaning my room because I’m a neat person by nature. But what I didn’t like was to clean after other Marines. Why should I clean the lounge if I don’t ever go in the lounge? Or clean the NCO deck if I’m not an NCO? So instead of getting black-out drunk, why not just take a class or two? It’ll make you’re time go by much faster and make you more marketable when you’re ready to transition.
Next thing you should do is go to medical to claim every ache and pain. I’m sure some of you have heard this before so just do it. If you have enough claims you may get money after you leave the service. This is simple and doesn’t take much time. And even if it does, it’ll get you out of work for a bit.

Lastly, my advice is to save money. This is very important especially if you are planning to get out. It’s never too early to start. A few hundred dollars a month will add up and will give you a good start when you’re out in the real world looking for a job. Or while you’re in school if you plan to go that route. With a good amount of savings to supplement your Post 9/11 GI Bill, you’ll be in a good position to start your new life semi-worry free. While you’re out, it’s amazing how much you have to pay for when you’re on your own and I just hope you’re properly prepared for it. It’s not easy but it sure is satisfying to know that you are on your own.

In no way am I saying you have listen to me because I’m a nobody, just a former cog in a huge machine which is the Marine Corps. But I genuinely do want Marines who gets out to succeed. On my way back to my home of record, I ran into a former Marine and started shooting the shit. He was bitter with his current situation and I asked what he did to prepare before he got out. I found out, he didn’t do much. He was so used to the security that the military provided that he didn’t properly prepare. I don’t want to be in the same situation and I don’t want to see you guys there either. So please prepare yourselves because it’ll make a world of difference once you’re out.

Nothing feels better than leaving with your DD214, Navy Comm (worthless in the real world), and a check for the leave days I sold back while driving off base for the last time. The feeling is invigorating and liberating. It’s the next chapter of your life so make sure that it’s going to be a
good one by doing what you need to do now. Don’t wait for later to get your shit together. Do it now.

A little about myself: I am a former NCO and was just an average Marine. I got out a few months
ago and now living a normal life. I didn’t do anything special while in the Marine Corps but I didn’t manage to get an associate’s degree (I wish I would’ve started right away so I would’ve gotten a bachelors). I am working for the government (not DoD) and planning to finish my schooling.

Again, I wish all of you the best of luck. I know your EAS seems like forever away but make the time in between count and do something meaningful that’ll prepare you for the real world. It’s going to be worth it in the end.

If you’re a Marine, this day will come and when it does, it will be surreal. You won’t believe it’s around the corner even though it is fast approaching.

Once you have your DD214 form in your hands, no more stupid bullshit, no more rules, no more regulations, no more orders, no more being in the Marine Corps. You can finally grow out your hair, smoke pot, tell Gunny to go fuck himself and his bullshit field day inspections where the rooms are clean but for some reason if he finds one tiny speck of dust, it’s like the equivalent of an Ebola outbreak to him. You can even do all of that at the same time! Oh, the freedom of choice!

Was the Marine Corps a bad experience? Mostly. But there are things that I took from that mostly bad experience. I learned that 20 years in the Marine Corps would drive me to borderline suicidal levels. I also learned that humanity is going downhill real fast and there’s no brakes on that motherfucker. On the plus side, I saved up a lot of money, get to use the Post 9/11 GI Bill, went around the world (the smelly parts), learned a lot of military knowledge, learned a lot of life skills, did some cool things and met some cool people.

But in the end, I was sick of being a government slave. I wanted to get out and stay out.

I hear a lot about stupidity in the Marine Corps but not enough about insanity. When someone does something stupid, I think it’s easy for higher ups to just say that guy was being stupid without looking at why he did it.

For the most part you’ll hear something like, “PFC so-and-so went and ran across the I-5. He was hit by 5 cars and died a horrible death. I know, he was an idiot. It was probably alcohol related. We don’t know yet,” and then they’ll give a 5 hour long safety brief about leadership and not running across the I-5 or a class on how to look both ways before crossing the I-5 (Joke. Haha.).

What you won’t hear is that PFC so-and-so was going insane for a number of reasons and couldn’t take it. His chain of command was keeping him beyond normal working hours for no reason which caused his already strained relationship with his wife to become even more strained. So one day, he figured, “Well, we’re not doing anything. I’m sure no one would care if I left to see my wife.” Of course, some douchebag Staff Sergeant wasn’t having none of that shit and charged him UA (Unauthorized absence).

They took away his rank and he lost his car as a result of his new pay grade. They still continued to keep him beyond working hours because his boss dumped work on him just before he was about to leave. The PFC had nothing to do all morning and afternoon but his boss just had to dump work on him at the last minute just because he can. And it’s always “so important” like updating publications or turnover binders, which no one uses. Now his wife wants a divorce because they never see each other.

Now you have both sides of the story but as always, in reality, we are always left with one side of the story, the one that makes the Marine Corps look not as bad.

The Marine Corps is not a place where normal people come in and leave normal. For the most part, normal people will come in and will probably think about suicide at least once in their Marine Corps career. I’m sure that most first termers (first contract of 4 years) have thought about suicide or mass murder or both. And for the most part, most people just look at their End of Active Service (EAS) clock and hope it moves faster. These people have something to look forward to.

When one is perceived as crazy, it’s just so easy for the military doctors to give that person crazy pills. I mean, that can’t be right! Instead of solving the problem, they just mask it up with pills. These pills mess with your head and you don’t function normally anymore. There is a one step program for curing that person’s depression. It’s called End of Active Service.

So whenever you hear that someone did something stupid, ask yourself why.

If a Marine tells you that he loves being in the Marine Corps, chances are he’s lying. There’s too many rules and regulations. Too many people not giving a crap about the little guy (E-3s and below). Too many people looking out for themselves.

The only reason why people re-enlist is because:
1. They actually found something they like.
2. They have a family.
3. They’re afraid to leave and go to the real world.

I left mainly because my higher ups don’t give a shit about everyone underneath them. All they care about are their stupid little ribbons and medals. One of our Staff Sergeant has 5 Navy Achievement Medals (NAM). That is ridiculous. On his last deployment, all he did was sit in his air conditioned office, watch football, punch a few numbers in the computer and yell at everyone for stupid shit.

We would ask him for help and he would never help us mainly because he couldn’t. He didn’t even know the basics of our job that a Private First Class would generally know. What pissed me most was that since he was our Staff NCO in charge, he could give us all our proficiency and conduct marks. Everyone worked their asses off and with minimal supervision. Of course, he never knew because he never bothered to do his fucking job and walk outside his office and watch us work. He didn’t even need to go out of his office. He could just read our numbers report and see what everyone was doing.

He gave everyone low pro/con marks. I talked to him about it. He said, “If I give everyone high pro/con marks now and low pro/con marks later, it’ll show that you’ve gone down hill. If I give everyone low pro/con marks now and high pro/con marks later, it’ll show progression. It’s good for career Marines.” I replied, “Why don’t you just give us what we deserve?” “You don’t understand. You’ll understand when you’re my rank.” Fucking bullshit. If there’s 100 Marines, in 8 years, around 17 will still be in. So basically, he fucked over the other 83 Marines.

The kicker was that he took the work that everyone did and submitted himself for a Navy Commendation Medal. He didn’t get it but he did get a NAM. He did the award ceremony when everyone was on leave. Figures.

Fuck you Staff Sergeant Douchebag. If you’re reading this then I hope you enjoy that fucking NAM. You’re one of the main reasons why I left the Marine Corps and will stay out.

Imagine that there’s a murderer running about. Eventually they catch him and the government decides to punish everyone. They think that since no one stopped this murderer then everyone is held accountable. Does this happen in the real world? Of course not! But the Marine Corps is not part of the real world. It is in an alternate reality where sense makes no sense.

Mass punishment is normal in the Corps. Why? I guess higher ups are just doing what has been done to them in the past. Marines are used to doing certain things and they just keep doing it regardless of better methods.

Also, the justice system in the Marine Corps isn’t exactly top notch. It’s where you are guilty until proven innocent. I know that doesn’t make sense but remember that in the Marine Corps, sense makes no sense.

No sense makes sense.

Any normal person would get sick of getting in trouble for something they didn’t do.

In my time, I’ve heard of two male Marines caught in the same bed in their school house. They got discharged right quick… out of the military. Sicko.

Are gay people bad in the military? Well, fuck! Half our females are fuckin’ lesbians! Do I care? Not really, I could care less. And the males? Someone told me that the Marine Corps is, “The longest 4 year long gay joke.” You’ll always see some Marine doing some border-line ambiguously homosexual shit but you’ll never see that same Marine actually do anything that’s straight up homosexual. Everyone acts gay but no one is gay.

This happens in every unit I have worked with. It’s really weird. Maybe it’s something in the base water.

I would talk about the story of the “Phantom Cocksucker,” but it would probably scare a lot of you ship dwelling folk.

Those who leave the Marine Corps will undoubtedly become smarter. Those who have been in for at least over a year will feel somewhat… slower. Remember that 4 letter word you used to know how to spell? Or remember that time when you used to be able to add fractions?

If you’re in the Marine Corps, ask yourself, “Has my ability to spell gotten better in the Corps?”

Well, I’m pretty sure it hasn’t. If you said yes to that question then your educational system has probably failed you in the first place.

I was motivated to join the Marine Corps, I was, my dad was a Marine, my uncle a Marine and grandfather also, a Marine. So I was pretty much motivated as fuck before going to bootcamp, I was thinking like, oh wait until they see me, just wait, it will be the greatest thing ever being a Marine, and I was motivated until i got to Parris island, and realized how much bootcamp sucked and how brutal it was, like everyone else, and after the crucible, I was motto as hell, and was pumped, and it only kind of hit me that week, prior to crucible, on the way to church, I talked to another recruit, thinking, wow, I kind of just endured these past 12 weeks, and really, I kind of want to be a civillian again. So i realized I satisfied that urge of wanting and being a Marine down in parris island, and I wanted to be a civillian again, until the reality set it, that I was fucking locked in, for the next 6 years of my life….
Back to what I was saying before, so after the crucible, i was motto as fuck, couldn’t wait to come home and show off to the girlfriend and to all those scumfucks i graduated highschool with. So I get home on bootleave, half way through, and fucking realize I want to be a civillian again, and I did not want to leave, I realized how fucking awesome the civllian life is, how much I took for granted. Because In Parris Island I learned everything i needed to learn, I realized you have to a complete piece of shit to not be sucessful inthe civillian world, and hard work is easy, you just gotta fucking do it. Thats what I got out of the Marine Corps, and thats really all I wanted out of it, I joined becuase i felt i was a screwup who was lazy, i felt I needed a change, an appiphany so to speak, and I got one, and now thats its all said and done, I want out becuase I fufilled and learaned everything I wanted from the Marine Corps when I was in the parris Island, now i just want to live my life and leave the Marine Corps behind, but I can’t and I’m stuck with it the next 6 years of my life. Okay, so I’m reserve you say, not too bad right? Wrong. I have a Sergeant who just came off of active duty, who was only his second drill last month (as it was for me too) and he was basically telling me how much he hated it as well. Ill tell you why.
So, I get a taste of civllian life during my month off right? Well heres why it sucks, because the reserve in a sense, is like teasing an animal, they constantly feel like they’re gonna get the thing they want, but the reality is, they’re not gonna get that fucking dog bone. ANd that’s the reserve, I’m teased with, ‘oh you can go to school’ ‘oh you can work’, but the reality is every fucking month I have to sacrifice a weekend, and report for this bullshit, how can I accomidate a school scheudale, what if i have a final the monday after the weekend, and with my major, being finance, how can I work as a corporate banker, with crazy hours, and say they need me to come in on a saturday, oh wait, cant cause of reserve, all the reserve does it get your enjoying and becoming comfortable with civillian life making you feel free for a little why, and then all of a sudden the carpet is pulled out from underneath you, pretty much saying “JK YEAH RIGHT LOLOLOL, YOU’RE MINE THE NEXT 6 YEARS BITCH”. And thats what makes it suck, it could be a weekend needed for work, vacation, a wedding, nope, gotta sacrifice it.
So this is my 3rd drill coming up, and I just fucking hate it, a lot of what has to do with it are these power insane, unintelligent douche bags that are your fellow Marines. Everytime I go, there are in particular these 2 douche bags I have to put up with, who I went to MOS school with and were such assholes to me, and I thought i’d never have to see them again, but of course they end up at my unit, and they make my life suck, so my entire month I just dread going back to drill, and while I’m there I just feel like shit, and just knowing that this will be my life the 6 years makes me want to get the fuck out, I hate it, it does nothing for me except get in the way of pursuing my civillian career and life with my girlfriend, and it just fucking urks me, living month to month, dreading each month, because of the upcoming drill dates, and just having that in the back of my head, the whole month makes me anxious, depressed and shitty, and knowing that im going to have to put up with this fucking emotional drain for the next 6 years of my life, makes me want to go to drastic measures to get the fuck out, if there is anyway for 6 years to pass quickly, please, someone let me in on it, because i fucking hate the way my life looks right now.

No doubt many of you have seen this clip, which I believe is recognized as a fitting homage for many thousands of discharged Marines. I’ve been out for about 5 years now, but when this character sings, “. . . and last of all we got one more left it’s the most important one, it’s the EAS . . .” I think of the relief I felt while driving out the front gate with my DD-214. It was almost euphoric. The lyrics are so simple, the song a concise encapsulation of his time in the Corps. There is bullshit everywhere and acronyms for everything. And hiding beneath the veneer of this highly lofted institution are the symptoms of confusion and mediocrity: on-duty Marines sleeping, favoritism, politics, avoiding responsibility, etc. Keep in mind, this young man is not singing about your local mechanic in coveralls finishing a beer when he should be repairing your car- he’s talking about the United States Marine Corps. As always, I am excluding those combat-tested Marines and the ones who have paid the ultimate price. The rest of you (including me) deserve no special recognition for just doing our jobs.

Motivators love to say, “Well there’s always a share of both love and hate for the Corps.” Just what part of, “Fuck USMC you can suck my cock” in that song conveys love for the Marine Corps? I personally reserve those sentiments for organizations (and the people in them) for which I harbor no affection. You can even tell your girlfriend, “Fuck you” in an argument, as well as “You can suck my cock” in a different setting when both of you are feeling decadent. But you cannot tell your girlfriend, “Fuck you, you can suck my cock.” She just won’t do it. It’s your way of saying, “I think we’re done” in the most undiplomatic way. But I don’t hate the Marine Corps. I won’t waste my time and energy hating it. My relationship with the USMC is a lot like the estrangement you have for that ex-lover who just isn’t right in the head. You pity and sometimes humor her, you know she (or he, for you ladies) is insane, and you can’t help her. And no matter how many times you explain that her negative traits far outweigh her good ones, she’s still going to believe that she made your life richer and more worthwhile. That’s the fallacy many motivators believe, that somewhere in one of the chambers of our hearts we still love and miss the Corps. So you just have to laugh, shake your head, and stay away. Hate is not healthy. I personally prefer expressing my awe and amazement toward these delusions of grandeur, followed by amusement.

When you compare the happiness level of your graduation from boot camp to your EAS, you will find that the former is grounded upon a belief system that had no or little substance in the first place. And little by little, you learn that the EGAs woven into your uniforms and pinned to your collars take on a different meaning than when you first coveted them. In the beginning, they were symbolic of being the ultimate badass and the consummate professional. But over time, the environment and the resources at your disposal began to reflect the inadequacy of the training protocol and superficial aesthetic of the Corps. Shall I quote Tyler Durden? “Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken.” Likewise strutting, yelling and marching in formation does not make you formidable, tougher, or organized. It only makes you more obedient and susceptible to further indoctrination. Ultimately, your graduation from basic training pales in comparison to your EAS celebration. This is the case 9 times out of 10.

Perhaps a Marine and/or poolee (those naive, sorry bastards) will argue that if the USMC mentality failed to take hold, we just “didn’t do it right.” Something went awry. We weren’t Marine material. But being Marine material isn’t prestigious at all. The necessary components for being one are really reduced to two main factors: 1. a healthy body (which isn’t at all reflective of your character), and 2. the willingness to obey (like a child). Anything beyond that is derived from the individual. So this whole misconception that Marines somehow acquire admirable abilities and traits that are otherwise inherent is one of the biggest crocks perpetuating the Marine Corps myth.

If you’re one of those people who knows that had it not been for the Corps, you would’ve been incarcerated, committing felonies and/or just been an overall ineffectual human being, you’re among that alarmingly growing percentage who truly needs such draconian levels of discipline just to function. The Corps has attempted unsuccessfully to correlate the word “discipline” with the words “practical, useful, and efficient.” In other words, a Marine’s ability to do the right thing, to just be DECENT, requires drug tests, structured exercise sessions, and accountability formations to keep him that way. The definition for excellence in the Marine Corps is synonymous with maintaining the status quo in the private sector. Talk about lowering the bar. Those civilians and [few] Marines that have reached or transcended the standards of excellence do so individually, simply because USMC policy is designed as a blueprint for ordinariness. So without equivocation, there are far more excellent people in the civilian world than there ever were in the Corps. Hands down. No question about it. Aside from them being able to run for long periods of time, Marines work very hard in order to become very average.

Anyone who has been in the marine corps for any length of time knows that the corps prides itself on its history and traditions. I’m sure we can all remember during bootcamp, being indoctrinated with assorted tales of Smedley Butler, the Battle of Chapultepec, the “Frozen Chosin”, and the list goes on. But to say that the marine corps prides itself on its long and illustrious history is something that no one who has ever served in the corps can deny.

However, history is written by the victors, and victors have a nasty habit of skewing facts in their favor and the corps is no exception to that rule.

Let me start at the beginning, the marine corps birthday. Tradition holds that the usmc was created at Tun Tavern, Philadelphia on Nov 10, 1775. The facts are, the Continental Marines had it’s origins in Tun Tavern, on Nov 10, 1775. After the Revolutionary War was won, the Continental Marines were disbanded. The usmc was created on July 11 1798. This date continued to be recognized as the marine corps’ birthday until 1921 when Gen Lejeune decided that the usmc and it’s predecessor, the Continental Marines, were one and the same, and changed the birthday accordingly. I feel it is also noteworthy that prior to 1921, the marine corps birthday was not a cause for a giant celebration as it is today, it was just another day at work.

Moving on, marine corps tradition holds that the “Blood Stripe” is worn on the trousers of Officers, SNCO’s and NCO’s to commemorate the heavy losses of these ranks during the Battle of Chapultepec. History, on the other hand, tells us that the Battle of Chapultepec occurred on Sept 12-13, 1847, meanwhile marines began wearing the Blood Stripe in 1837 (a full 10 years earlier) by order of President Andrew Jackson, so that the corps would match the army’s practice of wearing trouser stripes of the same color as the jacket facings.

So there is an issue of chronology, this much is beyond doubt, but the misrepresentation of history doesn’t end there. If you do a little bit of independent research, you’ll shortly learn that the Battle of Chapultepec involved 13,000 U.S. troops. Of these 13,000 men, 130 were killed, 703 were injured, and 29 were missing, for a grand total of 862 casualties, or 6.6%. Now I personally know several marines who went to Afghanistan and never came back, so I fully realize that any loss of life is a tragedy, and I’m not trying to downplay that. However, at the same time we have to realize that in war people are going to die, and for the battles of the Mexican-American war, 6.6% is actually pretty average. So to say that this particular battle – and these particular 130 dead – were somehow worthy of being commemorated with a stripe on a dress uniform while no other dead have been deemed worthy of being forever commemorated by such a gesture, is an absurdity. (The closest thing to this is the French Forage, which is only allowed to 2 Regiments)

Continuing on our review of marine corps history, let us move on to the Battle of Belleau Wood in WWI. Any good marine will tell you that this was battle in which the Germans gave us the nickname “Devil Dogs” or “Teufel Hunden” (Or “Teufelshunde” as it should be spelled). I once had the pleasure of serving with a marine of Canadian origin, who showed me in Canada’s military history, that the Germans had called Canada’s soldiers “Teufelshunde” in 1917 a full year prior to the Battle of Belleau Wood. So at the end of the day, it wasn’t that marines were necessarily that frightening, it was just the nickname claimed by any force that happened to soundly beat the Germans on any particular day.

Our final stop on this lovely journey through time is the Chosin Reservoir. Possibly the most brutal battle (in terms of weather) ever fought, with temperatures around -40* F. (This battle has, in practice, already been reduced to little more than a reason for a SNCO to throw a fit over a cold marine with his hands in his pockets, because the “Frozen Chosin” fought through colder conditions. Be that as it may, I wish to address the battle without regard to the cheapening which the corps has done for me)

I have also had the pleasure of speaking to a marine who was on the front lines of this battle, and after he recounted how the 1st marine division was outnumbered 8 to 1 by the Chinese Army, and the extreme weather conditions meant no air support (This is the place where most well known versions of the story end) he went on to describe the enemy he and his comrades found themselves pitted against. His description was as follows: “Those who had bullets had no boots, those who had boots had no coats, those who were not freezing to death were starving to death… That battle was 60,000 mercy killings…”

Again, my aim in this is not to belittle the men who fought and died during the Chosin Reservoir, Belleau Wood, and the many other battles throughout this nation’s short history. I aim instead to demonstrate through these instances the disturbing trend of high-ranking officials of the marine corps altering or omitting facts of the marine corps’ history in an effort to continue to ride the coattails of a renown which is not theirs and which they have not earned. It is this rigid clinging to delusions of grandeur that lead President Truman to say “The Marine Corps is the Navy’s police force and as long as I am President that is what it will remain. They have a propaganda machine that is almost equal to Stalin’s.”

“But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success.” ~ Adolf Hitler

The Marine Corps thrives on it’s public image. Sometimes I wonder what the Marine Corps and it’s Marines would become if that “good image” was taken away and replaced with the truth. But then I remembered, the Marine Corps spends a huge chunk of resources to constantly repair that image when it receives damage. The Marine Corps is really good at lying to everyone… When something like this urinating video pops up on the web, the Marine Corps has to find elsewhere to place blame and spends a FUCK TON of cash and resources scrambling to fix things..

In reality the Marine Corps has produced these people. These warriors of death have been taught everything they know by the Marine Corps. The Marine Corps made these men who they are. And who knows how much is spent to train a single Scout Sniper, but I know it is over $200,000.00 per warrior, not including the overhead required. I have witnessed shit like this with my own experiences, I have worked with men who have been just as capable of urinating on a corpse or much much worse. It is because the Marine Corps and it’s community that motivated them to feel that way. In bootcamp I was forced to view dozens of videos of Marines killing people while Heavy Death Metal played in the background. We were hardly ever allowed to show signs of excitement or happiness in bootcamp, but we sure were allowed to cheer on Marine “Moto Videos” of people being killed in war. That is about the point in time where new Marines start joking about how fun it would be kill someone. At the time, I did it too. When I was in Iraq, all I wanted to do was kill someone, as did the rest of my unit. Fortunately, most of us did not get our chance.

The thing that really bothers me about this video, is that the only reason this has been brought up is because someone decided to capture it on camera and show the world. Sadly, sometimes this is the only way to bring big issues into light. What scares me is that I know for a fact that more twisted shit is happening that no one will ever know about. Man… The Marine Corps is fucking twisted… But technology is catching up with the Marine Corps, and they will not be able to hide it’s true face much longer.

Eat the Apple Fuck the Corps – A phrase used by Marines to express their displeasure with the Marine Corps. Usually mouthed by someone about to leave the Corps or by a Marine who has endured a perceived injustice.

Today marks 235 years of legalized murder by one of the most deadly gangs on the earth. I was once a part of this gang. I am not proud of the death across the world. I am not proud that other young women and men were brainwashed into glorifying the murder of the state. On this 235th birthday of the Marine Corps I ask of you not to tell me happy birthday. Don’t thank me. Question the violence and slaughter.

Every year around November 10th I hear many people wishing me a “Happy Birthday” because it is the day the Corps celebrates it’s birthday. Today is the 235th year of the Marine Corps. I also often get the redundant ‘thank you for your service’ from many who feel that the murderous actions of the state are honorable.

This is the time of year they throw elegant balls to celebrate. It is a big holiday in the Corps. Many from military families and those that have been involved in the U.S.M.C. know that today is a day of significance and a day that all Marines are not only aware of but often anticipating. There will be feasts, balls, drink and celebration this week all throughout the world.

I often do not know what to say as people find out I am a veteran of the U.S.M.C. and they thank me. I find the legacy of violence and brutality repulsive. I do not want to hear your thank you. I do not want to hear the ‘happy birthday’.

If you want to thank anyone thank the Winter soldiers for doing what is right. They are the true patriots. Celebrate those who speak out against the murder and violence of the American Empire. I will not be always faithful to the murder of the state. I will not condone sending young people to die and kill. The youth of the nation has been brainwashed into believing in the murder and tyranny of the state as I illustrated earlier in my article Fear and Loathing in the U.S.M.C. Brainwashed in the Corps.

I am officially convinced that every reason that I ever decided to join the Marine Corps…is NOT what the Marine Corps is about. Maybe I just joined at the wrong time. Most Marines tell me it’s just the unit, but I’ve been to other units and something that I realize is that no matter where you go in the Marine Corps, you’re going to always have to deal with unnecessary bullshit and take the big, green weenie up the ass. All the false perceptions that it gives off, from the advertisement to the training, is all a bunch of bullshit, especially once you get to the fleet. Would I have known that this was really what I was getting into, I would not have joined because I got the girth of this as a civilian. FML and the Marine Corps. Everything that I used to enjoy I do not anymore. All individuality and most of my intelligence is gone. I had a CO tell me that false motivation is better than no motivation…No the fuck it is not. The part that sucks the most about the Marine Corps for me is the fact that I’m that one Marine that gets fucked over the most, usually through doing the tasks that are “beneath” everyone else. So sick of this shit. 4 to 5 years wasted on this bullshit. I should’ve just taken out loans for college. FML FML FML.

After being out of the “corps” for over a year i still must say, i still hate and always will hate the USMC for what it has done to and for m- nothing. I dedicated 4 years to this bullsh*t that i have been imprisoned in. Going through the marine corps has been over the top rough as far asa sense of belonging and acceptance. I have felt like a completel reject and outcast the entire way through. There is no family in the marine corps or “brotherhood” bond. Every man for himself, there’s no team work there. People make it through the marine corps and fleet only because we have to its our only survival is makign it, nothing great. If you want to be gossiped about and puth through highschool all over again, be around odd characters, be sexually harassed, be publicly humiliated,physically assaulted and talked down to for 4 years straight this is it. I dont reccommend this for anyone. It has been nothi ng but unfreindly environment. Not many take a liking to this bullsh-t. I have been humiliated so so so so so many times i cant remember all the times. One time i got yelled at by some fag ssgt in the chowhall (in front of the whole chowhall) and this is just one small incident of many…do you know what this does to a persons self worth. No wonder nobody lieks any of you just look at yourself. Didnt you know that human respect is above everything else? If you treat people like slaves that will lead to mental problems, drinking/drugs and worse. You will find that you and your spouse arent getting along because this is what this system does to people! lol it is way too hard to sit here and talk about how seriously f-d up this palce is….if you think otherwise good for you for beleiving all that was told to you the entire way through u might be a lifer or motivation for retardedness

i stole this from scott olsons i hate the marine corps site, somebody else wrote this i might add somebody asked him So what did you do the whole time in your marine corps 4 year enlistment? he responded “i slavishly obeyed the commands of a baboon”..LOL i couldnt help but post this! haha! baboons are dumbA$$es!

Let me say first off that I took no pleasure in writing this; I actually spent in excess of 12 hours writing this because I couldn’t look at what I’d written without getting mad and having to leave. I hate remembering this day, and sometimes I wish I could forget it. But these events are what taught me the truth about the Marine Corps, and this truth must be known.

I spent May – Dec of 2010 in that lovely part of the world otherwise known as Afghanistan. During my time there I spent a considerable portion of it on the Headquarters Co. Guard Force, a less-than desirable duty, but such is life. One of the duties of the Guard was to post security to the security on a small Hesco “Schoolhouse” at the south end of the base, for the weekly “Shura” meetings. During these meetings local Afghanis would meet with the company clerks, and would be hired to dig wells, fill sand bags, pick up trash around the outside of the base, and whatever other mundane tasks they could think of to shovel cash into the Afghani economy. Once the tasks had been fulfilled, the Afghanis would return to the next Shura to receive their payment.

At any rate, I was on post one day in mid-July, when a member of my section approached me, and told me that there was a document being circulated around the base saying that we were paying the Taliban. Naturally I was waiting for the punch line to some ridiculous joke, but my comrade didn’t smile. He continued to tell me that this document – which was written and signed by the Battalion Commander, and hidden behind a Secret security clearance – said that it had come to the attention of the Battalion Commander that after the weekly Shura meetings, the Taliban would arrive at the door of the locals we had hired, threaten their lives and the lives of their families for working with the Americans, and then the Taliban would take the money we had paid the locals as payment for allowing the locals to live.

At first I was doubtful, as I’m sure most anyone would be upon hearing such news. It didn’t sound like the “Honor Courage Commitment” mantra that the Corps had taken every opportunity to drill into my head since boot camp; but I could see the seriousness in his voice. I didn’t want to believe him, but I was plagued by the thought that “he might be right”.

Two days later I was tasked to help clean the company office tent after hours. During the course of cleaning I noticed that 1st Sgt’s desk had papers scattered all over it, and I went to tidy it up. And there it was: Secret Security clearance, Battalion Commander’s name and signature at the bottom, sitting right on the 1st Sgt’s desk. As I read it I realized that I hadn’t been lied to. I wish I could remember it verbatim, but the letter described the Shura meetings for those who weren’t familiar with them; then continued describing how our Afghani employees were being relieved of their earnings by the Taliban under pain of death, and then the letter said the one line I will never forget, it said that there would be no changes in policy made and no action taken because “Under the current conditions, the Taliban in the area are remaining peaceful.”

As I read that, any faith I may have had in the Marine Corps was lost. I couldn’t believe what my eyes were seeing. To paraphrase “We’re not going to stop holding these Shura meetings, because if we stop indirectly funding the Taliban they might get upset!” Wouldn’t that just be horrible, if the people we are supposed to be killing were to get upset? I don’t know how I would sleep at night knowing that the Taliban was mad at me!

But let’s go ahead and take this a step farther: what do you suppose the Taliban would be buying with all of our money? I would say guns, bullets and explosives are probably on the shopping list somewhere. Now who do you suppose those guns, bullets and explosives are being used against? U.S. Service members maybe? So we have the Marines serving the Marine Corps, the Marine Corps paying the Taliban, and the Taliban killing the Marines. That makes the Marine Corps effectively the legitimate face of a terrorist organization, and every Marine, myself included, is an accessory to murder. Knowing that, is there anyone out there who could look me in the eye and tell me that the military is a noble profession? Anyone at all?

When I finished reading, I put the papers away and left without a word. To this day my only regret is that I didn’t take that paper with me. Without that document I have no evidence, and anyone who reads this can call me a liar, and I can do nothing to refute their claim. But I hope – despite the fact that emotion doesn’t show well through written words – that the sincerity of my words rings through, so that you may know as I do, the truth about the U.S. Marine Corps.

My story is now told. There is nothing more that I can do.

Bless me Father, for I am sin; as are all who wear the uniform of a Marine.

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